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DNA Fingerprinting of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Sauerkraut Fermentations ^{, ,}

Vethachai Plengvidhya, Fredrick Breidt Jr.,^* Zhongjing Lu,^¶ and Henry P. Fleming

USDA-ARS, Department of Food Science, 322 Schaub Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7624

Received 15 June 2007/ Accepted 26 September 2007

Previous studies using traditional biochemical identification methods to study the ecology of commercial sauerkraut fermentations revealed that four species of lactic acid bacteria, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus plantarum, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and Lactobacillus brevis, were the primary microorganisms in these fermentations. In this study, 686 isolates were collected from four commercial fermentations and analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. The results indicate that the species of lactic acid bacteria present in sauerkraut fermentations are more diverse than previously reported and include Leuconostoc citreum, Leuconostoc argentinum, Lactobacillus paraplantarum, Lactobacillus coryniformis, and Weissella sp. The newly identified species Leuconostoc fallax was also found. Unexpectedly, only two isolates of P. pentosaceus and 15 isolates of L. brevis were recovered during this study. A better understanding of the microbiota may aid in the development of low-salt fermentations, which may have altered microflora and altered sensory characteristics.

Published ahead of print on 5 October 2007.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Paper no. FSR06-22 of the Journal Series of the Department of Food Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

Present address: National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 113 Paholyothin Rd., Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.

^¶ Present address: Department of Biology and Physics, Kennesaw State University, 1000 Chastain Rd., Kennesaw, GA 30144.